Possibly the most wonderful pilot in the world 1918

[Guest]

Remembered today, 13th November 1918 at 14:30 (GMT), Capt D’Urban Victor Armstrong DFC, who died at that time giving an aerobatic flying display at Bouvincourt aerodrome in Northern France.

 

Billy Bishop called him ”possibly the most wonderful pilot in the world” and his marvellous skill in stunting the Sopwith Camel is recounted in fascinating detail in “Camel Pilot Supreme” by Annette Carson, published in September 2019.

 

As an old boy of his alma mater, Hilton College in South Africa, it was my great pleasure to assist with the South African side of the book’s research. It was a trip down memory lane for me for a number of years, obtaining photographs of DVA’s school life, handling the damaged fin of his all-red Camel and a Parabellum m/c gun from a Gotha he shot down. I had stared at these items when I too was a schoolboy at Hilton, wondering at the man behind them and his life. A famous son with a famous name.

 

As an aerobatic pilot and mechanical engineer, I was able to contribute to the book and DVA’s life in a way that produced a rational reason for his unexpected death. I am sure there must be other members out there with family diaries/memoirs and the like that might contain references to D V Armstrong, or recollections of watching him perform his spectacular stunts. I would love to hear from anybody who might have such memories or even just an oft-repeated tale to tell.